Our Mission and Overview

All proceeds from The Art Show benefit Henry Street Settlement, one of New York's most prominent social service and cultural organizations. Henry Street's mission is to open doors of opportunity for Lower East Side residents and other New Yorkers through social services, arts, and health care programs. For 130 years, the Settlement has been a beacon of hope for New Yorkers coping with the effects of poverty and discrimination, lack of access to the arts, unemployment and educational needs, precarious housing, domestic violence, mental illness, or senior isolation. Our 18 Lower East Side-based sites offer a wide range of inclusive, high-impact programs reaching over 50,000 people annually through four program divisions: Education & Employment, Transitional & Supportive Housing, Health & Wellness, and Visual & Performing Arts at Abrons Arts Center. The funds raised at The Art Show play an essential role in helping sustain this vital work. 

Our Community and Impact

There remains a crisis of need across Henry Street's community– from the devastating and persistent impacts of intergenerational poverty to the compounded and lasting trauma of the pandemic that includes increased neighborhood violence; acute, unaddressed mental health needs; and lack of access to critically needed opportunities. In the midst of such profound challenges, Henry Street remains a beacon of hope and resiliency by staying deeply connected to our neighbors' needs and delivering integrated services through over 50 programs that serve the whole person, the whole family, and the whole community. Whether helping people heal from trauma, find jobs, thrive in school, find homes, explore their creativity, and so much more, Henry Street changes lives and instills hope for the future.